Author Archives: jsl915@aol.com

Jonas Kaufmann was both vocally miscast in Gounod’s Faust and not in his best voice at the performance I saw earlier this month at the Met.  The same could be said for Marina Poplavskaya as Marguerite.  Only René Pape as Méphistophélès came through … Continue reading →

 I picked up the current, December issue of Dance Magazine, and was astonished to read Joseph Carman’s article “Passing on the Magic,” which features extensive remarks from Susan Jaffe concerning her new position as coach at American Ballet Theatre.  Discussing influences on her coaching, … Continue reading →

At Carnegie Hall for last Wednesday’s performance of Rossini’s Moise et Pharaon, the overwhelming amount of my audio and visual attention naturally went to my brother standing in line with the lustrously serried tenors of the Collegiate Chorale.  And yet, … Continue reading →

For City Arts on-line, I again tributize a opera tribute. . . the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s luncheon honoring Marilyn Horne.

Something that needs to be said loud and clear about bringing stage and film directors to the Met Opera: It’s not a new idea.  Back in the 1950s, Met artistic director Rudolf Bing recruited Broadway star actor and director Alfred Lunt; … Continue reading →

My friend Laura Jacobs was watching old episodes of the Jack Benny show recently and was startled when soprano Roberta Peters turned up as one of Benny’s guests.  Peters was young, beautiful, and sporting a 20-inch waist.  What Laura realized … Continue reading →

Last May was her memorial tribute by the Metropolitan Opera Guild at Town Hall. Here is my tribute.

To go from the sublimity of Régine Crespin’s book to the reality of so much else written about opera: There is a particularly nasty cabal of NY opera editors, writers and critics who do not believe that anyone outside of … Continue reading →

I’m reading the late Régine Crespin’s memoir, On Stage, Off Stage, published in English translation by Northeastern University Press in 1997.  OK, I’m reading it a little belatedly.  But better late than never. What a superb memoir!  Crespin and the … Continue reading →

Last week I attended the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s luncheon honoring Marilyn Horne, and I want to write it up for City Arts on-line this week.  But first I have to share something funny: Peter Gelb sent his regrets, saying that he was … Continue reading →